Method of interconnecting two sheets or plates, especially a method of covering a book

ABSTRACT

A sheet or plate (10) for use for example as a stiffening plate for a book cover comprises an adhesive layer (12) applied to a narrow zone extending along and adjacent to at least one end of the plate or sheet. The adhesive layer (12) is covered by a protective peel-off strip (13) having a free end portion (15). This free end portion is folded along a folding line (16), which defines an acute angle with the longitudinal axis of the protective strip, whereby the free end portion of the protective strip extends beyond said edge of the sheet so as to define an accessible gripping end. The plate or sheet (10) may be arranged and retained in abutting engagement with a second sheet or plate (21), such as a book cover. Now, the protective strip (13) may be removed by pulling the free end portion (15), whereby the sheets or plates may be interconnected.

The present invention relates to a method of interconnecting a firstsheet or plate and a second sheet or plate in face to face relationship,especially a method of covering books, such as paperback books.

Within the field of covering paperback books (the term paperback bookshould in this specification be understood in its broadest sensecomprising also telephone books and any printed matter provided with arelatively soft cover) various solutions have been proposed forprotecting such books and for enabling the placing of the books in ashelf in an upright position. As an example GB Patent No. 1,480,954discloses a cover for a book, such as a paperback book, comprising afront cover panel and a back cover panel hingedly connected one to eachof the longitudinal edges of an intermediate panel or spine, and anadhesive located in strips adjacent to each of the free edges of theinside faces of said front and back cover panels, the adhesive beingcovered by a release paper or the like. The book cover according to thispatent specification involves a number of drawbacks. The cover isrelatively complicated to manufacture and therefore relativelyexpensive, and the covering operation is difficult to perform, as whenthe release paper has been removed, and the book and the cover has beenbrought into mutual engagement, the book will instantly adhere to theadhesive strip, so that a later correction of the alignment of book andcover will not be possible. Furthermore, it is necessary to usedifferent sizes of covers for books of the same format having differentthicknesses. An attempt to overcome the problem of using different sizesof covers for books with different thicknesses has been made in U.S.Pat. No. 3,133,750, but the three-part book cover according to thatspecification is also of a relatively complicated structure, and it isdifficult to mount the cover in correct alignment with the book.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,825,963 discloses a method of casing books. In thisknown method an adhesive layer is applied to substantially the totalarea of one side surface of one of the sheets to be interconnected, anda sheet of release paper covering the adhesive layer is folded and laiddouble so that the fold extends along one end of the sheet to which theadhesive is applied, while a free end portion of the release sheetextends beyond the opposite edge of the sheet. The sheets to beinterconnected are placed in abutting engagement with the double layerof the release sheet therebetween. Thereafter, the release sheet isremoved by exerting a pulling force to the exposed free end of therelease sheet. The pulling force necessary to remove the release sheetis rather high, and, therefore, it is normally not possible to removethe release sheet manually without using mechanical means.

The present invention provides an improved method of the above type,said method comprising applying a layer of adhesive to a surface of saidfirst sheet or plate, covering the adhesive layer with a protectivepeel-off strip, folding a free end portion of the protective strip alonga folding line, placing a surface of the second plate or sheet inengagement with the first plate or sheet in a predetermined relationshipin which said layer of adhesive is at least partly covered by the secondlayer or sheet, maintaining the predetermined relationship of saidplates or sheets by pressing the first and second plates or sheets intotight mutual engagement, and pulling the folded free end portion of theprotective strip so as to remove the protective strip from the adhesivelayer while maintaining the close mutual engagement of the plates orsheets, and the method according to the invention is characterized inthat said adhesive layer is applied to a narrow zone extending along andadjacent to at least one edge of the first plate or sheet, and that thefree end portion of the protective strip is folded so that the foldingline defines an acute angle with the longitudinal axis of the protectivestrip, whereby the free end portion of the protective strip extendsbeyond said edge of the first sheet so as to define an accessiblegripping end. Because the folded end portion of the peel-off strip issandwished between and in engagement with only a relatively small areaof the plates or sheets to be interconnected, the peel-off strip may beremoved manually without using special mechanical devices. The adhesivelayer may be applied to a zone extending along only one edge of thefirst plate or sheet. However, the adhesive layer may be applied tozones extending along two or more edges of the preferably rectangularfirst plate or sheet.

In a preferred embodiment of the first plate or sheet the acute angledefined between the folding line and the longitudinal axis of theprotective strip exceeds 45°, and the angle is preferably between 55°and 80°, providing for a gripping end portion of sufficient size with aminimum length of the free end portion, and a low risk of destroying theprotective strip during the peel-off operation.

The adhesive for forming the adhesive layer can be a pressure sensitiveadhesive, an instant hardening adhesive or an adhesive with a somewhatretarded hardening. Thus, acrylic adhesives or rubberbased adhesives maybe used.

When using the method according to the invention for stiffening and/orcovering a book the first sheet or plate is preferably a stiff or rigidcardboard or millboard plate, but obviously a plates of stiff or rigidplastics or other relatively stiff or rigid materials may be used. Thefaces of said first and second sheets or plates have substantially thesame size, and the book and the cover may be put into alignment prior toremoval of the protective strip to ensure a correct covering of thebook.

The invention also relates to a sheet or plate for use in carrying outthe method described above and comprising an adhesive layer applied to asurface part thereof, said adhesive layer being covered by a protectivepeel-off strip having a free end portion folded along a folding line,and the method according to the invention is characterized in that thesurface part to which the adhesive layer is applied is a narrow zoneextending along and adjacent to at least one edge of said sheet, andthat said folding line defines an acute angle with the longitudinal axisof the protective strip, whereby the free end portion of the protectivestrip extends beyond said edge of the sheet so as to define anaccessible gripping end.

Such plate or sheet is especially applicable as a book cover for apaperback book. When plates of the above kind are applied to the frontand the back of a book, the book can be placed in a shelf in an uprightposition, and as it is not necessary to provide the book with a spinecover. The text on the spine can still be read. Furthermore, it ispossible to change the visual appearance of the book. For instance, thecover according to the invention may be decorated or stamped with thename of the owner of the book.

The invention will now be further described referring to the drawings,in which

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a plateaccording to the present invention for covering a book, and

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a book, a pair of plates according tothe present invention being positioned in engagement with the front andthe back of the book.

FIG. 1 shows a millboard plate 10 for covering a book. On the surface 11is applied an adhesive layer 12 which is covered by (and hidden behind)a protective peel-off strip 13 of paper. The protective strip 13comprises a protective part 14 and a free end 15. The free end 15 isfolded back and a fold 16 is formed between the free end 15 and theprotective part 14. The fold 16 forms an acute angle of around 70° withthe longitudinal axis of the protective part 14 of the protective strip13.

FIG. 2 shows a paperback book 20 comprising a front 21, a back 22 and aspine 23. Identical front cover and a back cover plates 24 and 25according to the invention are put into contact with the respectivefront 21 and back 22 of the book 20 and brought into alignmenttherewith. A gripping end 26 of a peel-off strip of the front coverplate 24 extends rearwardly from the arrangement enabling a person tocatch hold of said end 26 and pull it off in a downward direction. Asimilar gripping end 27 extends from the back cover plate 25 so that thepeel-off strip can be removed in an upward direction.

When the book 20 is to be covered with the covering plates 24 and 25,the book 20 and the plates 24 and 25 are aligned in the same way as apack of cards. The correct alignment and a tight engagement ismaintained by pressing the front and back cover plates 24 and 25 againstthe book 20 with one hand. Concurrently, the other hand is used forcatching hold of the gripping end 26, and said end is pulled in adownward direction, substantially in a direction inclined in relation tothe fold of the peel-off strip along the spine 23 of the book 20,whereby the peel-off strip is removed as the fold of the strip travelsalong the adhesive layer and the front cover 24 is gradually adhered tothe front 21 of the book 20. While the engagement pressure with one handis still maintained the peel-off strip of the back cover 25 is removedby pulling the gripping end 27 in an upward direction, substantially ina direction inclined in relation to the fold of the peel-off strip, andthe back cover 25 is similarly adhered to the back 22 of the book.

It is obvious that the principles of the invention can be used in manydifferent applications. For example, the concept according to theinvention of folding a protective peel-off strip may be used forfacilitating the correct mounting of stickers, posters or streamers to asubstrate.

Furthermore, the invention may be subject to various modifications. Thesheets or plates to be interconnected may both comprise a layer ofprotected adhesive, such as a two-component adhesive. The sheet or plateto be used as book cover may be of a transparent plastics material, soas to retain the original visual appearance of the book. Similarly, theprotective strip may be of any other suited material, such as plastic orfabric.

I claim:
 1. A sheet for interconnecting with a sheet member in a face toface relationship, comprising:a sheet having a front and back face, atop edge, a bottom edge, and first and second side edges; an adhesivelayer applied to a narrow side surface zone on the back face of thesheet extending along and adjacent to the first side edge thereof; aprotective peel-off strip covering the adhesive layer, the protectivestrip having a longitudinal axis and extending beyond at least the topedge of the sheet to form a free end portion thereof, the free endportion of the protective strip being folded along a fold line definingan acute angle with the longitudinal axis so that the free end portionextends beyond the first side edges of the sheet to define an accessiblegripping end whereby the sheet may be adhered to the sheet member byarranging the sheet and sheet member such that the protective strip islocated therebetween and the protective strip is remove by pulling thegripping end of the protective strip to expose the adhesive.
 2. Thesheet of claim 1 wherein the acute angle exceeds 45°.
 3. The sheet ofclaim 1 wherein the acute angle is between 55° and 80°.
 4. The sheet ofclaim 1 wherein the adhesive is a pressure sensitive adhesive.
 5. Thesheet of claim 1 wherein the first sheet is a rigid paperboard plate forstiffening the second sheet.
 6. The sheet of claim 1 wherein theadhesive is an instant hardening adhesive.
 7. The sheet of claim 1wherein the adhesive is a slow hardening adhesive.
 8. The sheet of claim7 wherein the adhesive is an acrylic adhesive.
 9. The sheet of claim 7wherein the adhesive is rubber-based.
 10. A method for interconnectingfirst and second sheets in a face to face relationship, the sheetshaving a front and back face, a top edge, a bottom edge, and first andsecond side edges, comprising the steps of:a) applying an adhesive layerto a narrow side surface zone on the back face of the first sheetextending along and adjacent to the first side edge thereof; b) coveringthe adhesive layer with a protective peel-off strip extending beyond atleast the top edge of the first sheet to form a free end portionthereof, the protective strip having a longitudinal axis; c) folding thefree end portion of the protective strip along a fold line defining anacute angle with the longitudinal axis so that the free end portionextends beyond the first side edges of the sheet to define an accessiblegripping end; d) positioning the first and second sheets into apredetermined relationship so that at least part of the protective stripis located between the back faces of the first and second sheet; e)pressing the first and second sheets into a tight mutual engagement at alocation distinct from the adhesive strip; and f) pulling the free endportion of the protective strip so as to remove the protective stripfrom its position between the first and second sheets while maintainingthe mutual engagement therebetween, so that the first and second sheetsare interconnected by the adhesive layer.
 11. The method of claim 10wherein the acute angle exceeds 45°.
 12. The method of claim 10 whereinthe acute angle is between 55° and 80°.
 13. The method of claim 10wherein the adhesive is a pressure sensitive adhesive.
 14. The method ofclaim 10 wherein the first sheet is a rigid paperboard plate forstiffening the second sheet.
 15. The method of claim 14 wherein thesecond sheet is part of a book cover.
 16. The method of claim 10 whereinthe adhesive is an instant hardening adhesive.
 17. The method of claim10 wherein the adhesive is a slow hardening adhesive.
 18. The method ofclaim 17 wherein the adhesive is an acrylic adhesive.
 19. The method ofclaim 17 wherein the adhesive is rubber-based.